Itraconazole on the dole

So this last year I've been...

I have been having real problems shifting the mucus out from my narrow airways and what has been coming out has been hard and dry and causing me problems at night as my long suffering misses will attest. My LF has not responding to IVs either and I have lost 20% of my lung power over the last 4 years.

Anyway, I have been racking my brains trying to think of a way to treat this, and yesterday with my CF Team we came up with a plan that involved trying either Itraconazole, Hypertonic or nebulised Meropenem for a month to see which one improved my LF the most most. Itraconazole seemed a bit of a non starter because my IgE Aspergillus levels were fairly low. (there is no fungus in the mucus either, although there is Staph and Pseudo) When I got the email from my new boss the other week, one of the contributing factors to the decision was the thought of spending more time on my health trying to get to the bottom of just what the hell was going on in my lungs. Anyway, to cut a long story short, my gut instinct was to go with Itraconazole first for a month and, amazingly, within a couple of days; it's like flicking a switch, I feel loads better and the mucus is coming up much easier. Blows at the outpatients were FEV1 2.5 and FVC 3.5 so a marginal increase, but hopefully improving for my next visit in 6 weeks.

In other news I handed my notice in last Friday; it was nerve wracking - they wanted me to stay and think things over (but didn't offer me more money ;-)), but I'm still determined to change jobs - more for the excitement of a new challenge really. Having handed in my notice things became a bit clearer in my head; I realised I need to move to find a new challenge. As a developer, there is a real buzz to be had from solving problems and creating elegant solutions and in the last year at work there's been precious little of that happening. There *may* also be the option of working part time at my old place (20 hours a week) but we'll see - if it does happen it will only be a stop gap until I find something new. I realise my talk of taking some time off has now changed to finding a new challenge, but we'll see - in the short term it will be taking time off to concentrate on my health, but in the long term, hopefully there will be more intersting jobs out there, perhaps in the health sector, as I do have an interest in medical science and it would be great to help out in some small way.

For my next job I would like to have the working hours of a senior cat

Smiabetic not diabetic

So I met up with the Diabetes doctor yesterday and it turns out I'm not diabetic, yet! The 4 day continuous needle in belly test showed that I largely stay within the 4-7.5 range with only the occasional spike up into the 8.5 (usually after dinner/tea in the evening) but crucially, it doesn't stay there very long. She was even suspicious about whether I'd changed my diet for the test, and I definitely hadn't...she thinks my sugars may go out of control when I have an infection, which strikes me as particularly cruel; just when you need more carbs, your body lets you down by using less of them when it goes diabetic and you lose weight, talk about a viscious circle. Anyway, for the present I am just to keep an eye on things and maybe check when I am losing weight or have an infection.

I saw this RTA on the way in to hospital, (see link below, it was just outside the hospital) I think the lorry driver just didn't see him (has since been arrested on suspicion of driving without due care and attention) and he didn't stand a chance, just horrible. Life is so precious, this is such a waste. This is why I hate riding my bike on the roads, it only takes one person in a car/truck to not see you and you could be in serious trouble.

http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1465540_video-medical-student-26-died-when-he-was-hit-by-lorry-while-cycling-to-work-at-wythenshawe-hospital

I'm moving offices today; a bunch of railtrack guys are joining us so I have to move my stuff upstair with the commoners ;-) rather than having an office to myself. I don't mind really, since my workmate left it's been a bit lonely in the office by myself. Particularly with the year I've had being in an office by myself has given me a bit too much time to think, especially with losing my dad this time last year.

Can't start a fire without a spark...

"I wake up in the morning, and I aint got much to say
I go to bed in the evening, feeling the same way
I aint nothing but tired, tired and bored with myself
Hey baby, I could use just a little help"

-Bruce Springsteen, Dancing in the Dark

God, I must be ill if I'm singing Springsteen in my head (I don't even like Springsteen, apart from his Glastonbury show the other year). I got a cold last week and it doesn't seem to be shifting...I keep waking up tired with my nose and lungs blocked up, it's a bad virus alright. Oscar has the same cold as well (think he caught it from nursery and gave it to me) and he's got a violent cough too, especially when we're all sat together eating...I've ordered some oral antibiotics from the hospital (they faxed them through to my GP) so hopefully these will do the trick, otherwise it could be time for some more IVs. At my last clinic they said (after some probing questions by me) that the resistance vector of my pseudo to Ceftazadine had increased, so it may be time to try one of the scary IVs, like Meropenum...here's hoping I don't need to...

My Dad's house is now under offer; so me and my sister (and HMRC ;-)) may be getting some money through some time soon. I don't know, I just feel so empty at the moment, I'd give all the money away if it'd bring my dad back. Although it's nice to know there's some security there with which to look after the kids in case anything happens.

Work is just not inspiring me at the moment, part of the problem is that the two mates who I was working with every day when I first started the IT developers job a couple of years ago have left, so I'm a billy no mates in the office on my own (there are some guys upstairs, but it's not the same as having someone to talk shit to all day ;-)) Part of the problem I think is that the HQ of the business is down in Norwich so although I get fired up when I go down there for meetings about business strategy and all the work were going to do, I am inevitably forgotten about and left to my own devices when I return back to Manchester and the work seems very slow in arriving at my desk. The business is also taking on a lot of contractors in Norwich (at great expense) to do jobs that I'm pretty sure I could do, especially if I was in a half-decent team. I think it may be time for a change; a new challenge, I'm starting to get jealous of my mates when they talk about how busy they are in their jobs...

Work and other four letter words ;-)

Work is really frustrating the hell out of me at the moment; I'm a software developer who works on mobile apps but basically I haven't got anything challenging to do at the moment; just the usual day to day mundane stuff. I think I need a change, but I'm not sure what to try next. I wish my dad was here, he was good with career advise. Maybe you guys can help? I will write more when I get a minute.

Anyway, here's some pics from the Manchester Run, I enjoyed it, the crowd was fantastic as usual, but I'm a bit disappointed in my time -1:07- that's no improvement on last year although I was on IVs up until the day before the race so maybe they tired me out? I certainly found it a struggle after the first 5K. Rachel ran a good race and finished in 58 minutes although she was disappointed too, we're never happy ;-)

Tumbles day

A tumbles day is a day to forget, and I've just had one. Yesterday I decided to work from home to make it easier to drop off Abby today and sods law; one of the big bosses decided to pay a visit to the office to see me, so I missed him. He also dropped off a request list that I should have had in May for a dealine at the end of the THIS month. Grump, grump, grump! ;-) And to top it off Abby threw a mega strop at the cricket club on the way back from the school summer fair because we wouldn't buy her any more sweets. Does anyone have a manual on how to be a firm parent? Because I seem to be made of mush when it comes to discipline.....anyway, I've got the wine out and I'm sulking. With three hours of Glastonbury I taped from last week.

Living for the weekend...

Bleuurgh. I've just come back (from a weeks holiday in the Isle of Wight) into a working nightmare! S (who worked opposite me) has left leaving all the horrid old legacy systems to maintain meaning I'm far too busy to post. But it's OK because on Friday I'm going to see Polly Harvey at the Ritz this friday with my sister. Yey! (Have I said that before?)

Live Show of similar gig at El Ray, Los Angeles. I've found this gig on Youtube and it's filmed so well and captured the sound so well that I'm going to post it here. I think these US dates were a warm up for the UK tour as the setlist looks very similar. I'm guessing this was the opener:



Part 1, songs from A Woman, A Man walked by:



Part 2, more songs from the new album, including "Leaving California" and the beautiful "Cracks in The Canvas":



Part 3: songs from the 1996 album, Dance Hall At Louse Point, including the mesmerising "Civil War Correspondent" :



"Rope Bridge Crossing" also from Dance Hall...



Encore (False Fire...but where is April???):

Curry, Cocktails and the Pork Pie Thief!

We had a "curry and cocktails" party with some of R's old school friends the other day. As they were arriving at 8 this involved a mad panic trying to get the kids bathed, fed and into bed before 7.30 in order to give us time to tidy up, get changed and research how to make cocktails. This is what we came up with.

Singapore Sling
3 parts Gin
1 part Cherry Brandy
1 part Lemon Juice
Soda Water
Verdict: Fizzy Cough Medicine 4/10

Cosmopolitan
2 parts Vodka
1 part Cointreau
Lime
Cranberry Juice
Verdict: Doesn't quite live up to the Sex and the City hype, but good 7/10

Margarita
Tequila
Lemon (forgot)
Lime
Ice (forgot)
Salt on rim of glass (forgot)
Verdict: too sour but that could be down to running out of ice and the confusion of the cocktail makers! 4/10

DJ Dunley's Mix
Vodka
Gin
Triple Sec
Lemon
Cranberry
Verdict: A Surprisingly smooth made up drink! 8/10

DJ Dunley's mix was made by A after the curry because we had run out of decent cocktails to try. I suggested an Absinthe-based cocktail but no one was particularly keen ;-). I have to say we must all be showing our age, because in the old days someone would have suggested we start a tequila shot drinking game and someone (i.e. me) would have inevitably ended the night throwing up in the can. These days we're a much more sedate bunch and everyone seemed to get more excited about the curry takeaway. Anyway, it was nice to have some friends round for dinner, something we haven't really done since Oscar was born.

Grrrrr! Someone from my work has made off with my unopened pack of pork pies which I left in the fridge. I am on the lookout for someone overweight who is not Jewish!